In this article I shall try to answer the question implicit in the title. In order to do this adequately I shall cast a fairly wide net attempting to explain how various features of Western society are a part of the answer. In the final section of the article I shall suggest a method by way of which, if adopted, we could build a more socially just and economically productive Australia.

from john passant ….

Let me apologise in advance. It was tacky, and it shouldn’t have been distributed. I said as much sotto voce at the time when I saw the disgusting references to Abbott’s big ears and his budgie smugglers.

From Pete Costello

Period of Record

420,000 years BP-present

from Independent Australia …..

Infiltration, sabotage, mayhem. For years four-star general Keith Alexander has been building a secret army capable of launching devastating attacks. Now it’s ready to unleash hell.

U.S., citing use of chemical weapons by Syria, to provide direct military support to rebels

Vivid festival has ended as a spectacular success with a record-breaking attendance in Sydney, but behind the scenes the relationship between the popular event and photojournalism festival Reportage has soured amid accusations of censorship and breaches of contract.

Newly single and with a spring in his step, media mogul Rupert Murdoch was back on the dating market this morning, with an updated profile on singles site eHarmony.

In the profile, Mr Murdoch describes himself as a ‘regular guy’ with simple interests. “On the weekends I generally just pop out to buy a paper,” he says.

Whether it's the ABC, Fairfax or Murdoch, the media is desperately resolute in getting what it wants... The media does not want Gillard for a plethora of reasons, none of which make sense, but the media is gunning harder and harder to destabilise her leadership... One thing is for sure, behind all this, is a powerful religious lobby... The catholic hierarchy in Australia. Sure, they are not forward in overt claims in this affair, but they are in force behind the political scene.

The level of inequality around the world is truly staggering ….

Many now know the rhetoric of the 1% very well: the imagery of a small elite owning most of the wealth while the 99% take the table scraps. 

pointing the finger at the power of institutions...

Humans are the weirdo beasts of an unfit species where invention compensates for our weakness... 

The Opposition has been forced on to the back foot in the row over sexism in politics, after a Liberal Party fundraising menu which contained crude references to Prime Minister Julia Gillard's breasts, thighs and genitalia emerged online.